Lullaby of the broken
by DistantSong
Summary: Set in medieval times. Story of love and hate, war and sacrifices - it all begins with the death of lord Yamanaka, slaughtered for unknown reason. Whilst his daughter is forced to marry a man she doesn't love, she searches for culprit. Shikamaru is torn between love and duty. - full summary inside -
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary: Set in medieval times. Story of love and hate, war and sacrifices - it all begins with the death of lord Yamanaka, slaughtered for unknown reason. Whilst his daughter is forced to marry a man she doesn't love, she searches for culprit. Shikamaru is torn between love and duty. Hyuuga Hinata seeks a way to escape an arranged marriage with her relative and her family's sick ways. TenTen meets a hard young man and, a mere dame, she learns the art of love. Uchiha Sasuke seeks revenge in the cold world, whilst Uzumaki house prepares the kingdom for a war against the unknown.**_

_**Pairings: ShikaIno, NaruHina, NejiTen and SasuSaku**_

_**Lullaby of the broken**_

_**by: DistantSong**_

_**Chapter 1: Lady of Springhold**_

_**~X~**_

She had turned sixteen when the silver moon died that morning, leaving her hollow and in fear.

Her lord father had given her a dozen knights to escort her to the Silverport at the distant Shadowed Sea. Some of them were still green. _He must love me as much. And this ought to be his way of showing it,_she thought as the river of young guards flooded through the massive oaken doors in the Hall of Flowers, boys not much older than her, with fear of unknown in their eyes. Some of them were as slender as their swords and as proud as the old knights whose brave deeds were celebrated in the songs. There were those that shook like frightened kittens on the shore. Boys in whose hands swords were pushed summers too soon. By the stone walls, she caught the sight of prominent sers bathed in the sunlight, golden figures defying the ages, men that had been serving under her noble father since she had been a little girl, an unblossomed flower. Only two of them five was given the honor to escort the lady of Springhold to her new, gloomy home across the Shadowed Seas.

_The kingdom of storms and dark days._ _A place of sure death for the lady of sunlit southern woods._

"It will be a long journey, milady," Ser Shiranui had said to her in the rancid noon whilst they walked among her father's gardens after the feast held at her honor. She raised her golden head to study the man, gently holding a white rose between her slender fingers. "A day or two. Perhaps, is it too much for you, milady?"

"I will be fine, Ser."

"Are you sure? I am certain your noble father wouldn't want you to-"

"My lord father has already showed enough concern considering my travel." She gave him a polite smile to soften the burn she caused. "Stay well, dear Ser." She raised her hands to tuck a flower by the collar of the man's armor, making him smile.

"Springhold will most certainly miss you, lady Ino."he said. She kissed his handsome face and inhaled his manly scent. Ino had always loved Ser Shiranui's scent - there was a tint of autumn's wind in his skin and slight odor of the midsummer's rain. The man walked like a king and talked like the son of a high-born lord, foreshadowing all those fair knights that walked these premises. It was that soft brown mop that gave his appearance the mischievous look of a boy in his late twenties, even though the man was long past the thirtieth moon. Under it shone the two coal-colored, unfaltering stones that stripped every woman's soul. "Eyes of a young soul,", her maids often said. Ser Shiranui was a man that showed no sings of courtesy nor bond towards anyone but her and her noble father. Her poor brother was an object of his despise, a prince that deserved nothing but death, a plain fool. She could not blame them. No man held love for The Drunken King.

Ino loved Ser Shiranui as she loved and respected a father, thus the thought of bearing him children had never crossed her mind as it did to other noble ladies. He had once asked her father for her hand, but the man had refused him for she had already been promised to the prince in distant lands. His act had astonished her then, however, she would have accepted it now if it meant staying at Springhold. Shadowed Seas never matched her taste nor did the boy she had been promised to. Prince Shikamaru of the Shadow Islands, first of his name. She hated the ease with which it slipped her tongue and left the sour taste.

"He is a great prince on the north," her nana's had said. "A man suitable for a fine lady like you, milady." She did not share their joy.

"The words of his comely features have already reached all the southern lands, milady." High-priestess had told her this morning whilst she supervised the maids that bathed her and braided her hair. Her cheeks were flustered and lips curved in a smile of nervous virgin waiting for a man to deflower her. "You've seen him before, milady, during our visits when you were still a young flower. He was a very handsome kid back then, no wonder he blossomed into such a beautiful young man. Gods have indeed blessed him."

She had asked the one maid who had come from the Shadowed Islands about the stories considering the prince. The girl giggled, hiding her face. "They say he has the frame of a warrior, y'know what I mean m'lady? He's lithe and graceful, though they say he had no interest in the art of war. His weapon is his wit. They say your prince is a great strategist, his plans quelled the uprising in the north. Many noble daughters dream of his bed and gifting their house the Nara's successor. The young prince is very popular, though, he has no eyes for any maiden."

_Perhaps, he prefers bodies of different kind_, she thought.

Ser Shiranui bid her farewell when the sun rose to rest above the White forest and thus alone, she wended towards the Purple lake. Her mother had always considered it to be the most beautiful place in the Springhold during the summer days, with golden kisses of sun scattering on it's violet surface. Or so she had heard.

It was a surprisingly chill day for the midsummer. Sun shone above the mountains in the east, cold wind blew carrying a scent of storm and evergreen pines. Flowers danced in richness of colors. Highlands on the east towered the castle, crowned with wheat of red maple, beech and chestnut. Birds sang the loudest in those forests, and dark crows lived among the clouds. She'll have to memorize it all for the sake of never forgetting her only home.

_Once born a lady of Springhold, you'll always be a lady of Springhold._

Wind caressed her flustered cheeks. She saw guards walk and talk, whisper and exchange quick remarks. She wondered if her people celebrated her sixteenth moon or her departure. She felt as if she had lost step with time. Springhold continued with it's life, rich and colorful, like her departure meant nothing to it's obsidian walls. _It will be like I had never even existed_, she thought with regret. _My brother will bathe in golden sunlight whilst I rot in godforsaken corner of the land._

She tossed the flower in the lake, watching as it sunk. If only her brother could perish as easily.

"Thinking about me, dear sister?" She spun as if assaulted and he laughed at her reaction, dressed in silver armor that reflected sunlight's rays. He walked like a new jester their father had presented to the court this morning, a slave from foreign lands - with a goblet of Springhold's finest wine. He stopped beside her and observed her stoic expression, before gently reaching for a strand of golden hair that matched his own. Ino would've slapped it away if it wasn't for the guards that were passing.

"Smile for me. Today is your happiest day."he sang. "Happiest day of all of our lives."

"Oh, I am delighted." His look scolded her, and looked across her shoulder at the lake.

"I'm sure you're going to miss me."he chuckled for no particular reason. "Such a shame I won't be attending your wedding. I would be happy to see you...happy."

"Such a shame."she declared. "And I have dreamed of you leading me to the altar."

"So did I."he assured her. "And about women I could fuck after your silly boy takes you to your chambers. Does he know he won't be the first to fuck you?"

Her hand moved on it's own, however, none of them were bewildered when she slapped him with a strength of ten-year-old boy. It seemed to amuse him.

"You still hit like a bug, lovely sister. Your ser hadn't taught you how?"

"Mention him once again and I'll-"

"You'll what?"he dared her, his lips only breaths away from hers. "Whatever you try will end only with your own misery, sweetling. Even though I'm a bastard I believe we all know who matches are father's liking."

She raised her chin, but he caught it between his fingers. Deidara wrapped his little finger around the golden strand that framed her face, and pulled it lightly. "You'll have plenty of children with that man. I've heard Shadowed ones are very, very greedy. Greedier than your ser."

She struggled to free herself of his hold, but it only got stronger. "And all of them will be his legitimate sons."she muttered.

He pulled onto her hair. She leaned closer to ease the pain. Deidara reeked of sweat and variety of drinks, some of which should not have been consumed one after the other.

"While you die each day on that damned island, I'll be here, ruling in our father's name!"he yelled in half-hushed voice. Ino shook her head fiercely.

"He would never allow you."she said bluntly, almost to laugh. At least she held that much fate in the man.

Deidara seemed amused by her words. He took a sip from his drink before pushing his sister away like a cloth he did not need anymore. "I never said I asked for his allowance. Not even that I needed it."

Her eyes reduced to slits as her forehead furrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged, spilling the wine. Red traces traveled down his chin and neck, dripping on the metal, leaving rose stains. Ino's eyes widened as realization hit her so sudden, as did Ser Shiranui's steps that neared them.

"You wouldn't dare..."she spat at the man, a mirror image of her own self. Deidara gave no response.

Siblings faced the knight and a pair of guards. Ino read horror on the dear man's face.

"My lord, my lady"he heaved from running, barely offering a glance to the Drunken king. "Your lord father...was found dead. Slaughtered!"

"Slaughtered?!"she yelled, glancing at the boy who feigned his surprise. Goblet fell from his hand and he stumbled to ser Shiranui's side.

"Are you telling me...father is...gone?" His voice was the perfect, broken sound expected from the grieving young man. Too perfect, polished to the point she was certain her brother was not the man she could ever believe. She shook in anger and tears, as he fell to his knees.

"Who could do such a thing?!"he hollered for the men to hear. "Who?!"

Guards gave no answer and her maidens had rushed to her sides to walk her inside the castle. Her ears rang with the song of wailing women and devastated peasant's her noble father had loved.

She remembered Deidara's fingers that dug into the flesh of her forearm as she passed him by, pulling her close. His lips brushed against her earlobe and his words held her captive.

"Death is a form of art, beloved sister."he hissed. "And the dirtiest death celebrates the greatness of the artist. Blood is a paint and sword is nothing but a brush."


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN:**_

_**TSI- Thank you :) I updated as fast as I could, and I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter :)**_

_**me- Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :)**_

_**New chapter is up, hope you'll enjoy it :D Thank you!**_

_**Lullaby of the Broken**_

_**by DistantSong**_

_**Chapter 2: Scars of East and North**_

_**~X~**_

They had bared her of any honor the night they came into her chambers.

Her vision was a blur, sequence of the wine she consumed through the night whilst lords and ladies danced and minstrels sang the songs of olden days. On the night of her sixteenth moon, Lady of Stellary rock could not sleep. She dreamt awake of the young man she was forced to marry, giggled under her breath at the memory of blacksmith son's curls as black as the feather's of ravens. Each time she closed her eyes, her head filled with fantasies of morrow and apprehensions of a life she will lead as the woman joined before the Gods with a man she did not love. Lady would groan as her mind was flooded with visions of the smith son's hands - although flustered and ashamed of herself, not once did she swallow his name.

She saw him come through the wooden door in the late hour of the night, a mere figure coated in shadows, creeping her way. Lady of the Stellary rock recognised no man when he took hold of her hands, touch of his own flaming her skin like the warm wine she had tasted myriad times. She uttered no sound when a man disrobed her, placing himself on top of her. Coldness of his lips made the woman shiver whilst he placed soft kisses on her breasts, teasing her hardened nipples. His thick, softly curling hair tickled the curve of her neck - her fingers lightly pulled it as a punishment for every loving move he made. She would moan each time he knelt to kiss her down there, where she was the most wet.

However, every ounce of longing died the moment he pressed her harder against the silken sheets, wet and vulnerable, and howled like a hound driven by passion.

"The Demon lady, 'm I right?"he muttered to the man standing at the side, a figure Hinata did not see. His face was crowned with sharp features and crooked nose one would clearly recognised if he had ever seen it. Man's eyes were green as the riverlands on the south she heard stories about, and she was not certain if he was a wraith, game of her clouded mind or a living statue.

Smith's fingers found a place for themselves to enter, and he made her moan through tears that spilled as the effect of wine had finally released its grip on her mind. Disgust drove her as she cried for the man to let her go, cognizant of his doings. Hyuuga Hinata heard no response from the one who witnessed her shame, hidden in the shadows.

Man thrust harder inside her, as if amused by the frightened look she had. "I say she's as fearful as a lamb."

Two men broke into merry laughter - and she prayed to the gods, old and new, to send a dear Ser to save her. Nevertheless, her prayers were deafened by their jeers and insults. Hours had passed or she had lost her sense of time, forebodings of all sorts of tortures her lord father would bestow upon her came alive.

_A lady with no honor is not a lady, but a mere whore, _his voice she heard above the smith's groans. _You shall fear my hands if you ever dishonor our name and the sigil underneath you walk. I shall throw you to those in the dungeons or place you in the hands of Sers. I wouldn't care if thousands had you by day or night, you would be a mere bastard. Bastard with no name to be uttered._

No god had answered her prayers when the man's member was pushed inside her and she cried into another one's palm. Drunken fools cheered for him to show the place to the Demon Lady - but as thrusts grew more violent, numbness took over. Lady of Stellary Rock became a rag doll.

Her Sept's words came to her mind when the man's tongue wrestled her own.

_A lamb can become a monster, but no monster will ever carry the features of a lamb. _She was the Demon born from the race of the First, her mother a priestess with womb blessed by gods. This could not be her end.

She was turned and pushed to the sheets whilst insults erupted - and she cried like a child pulled from his mother's teats.

_I am a lady of Stellary Rock._, she chanted as her hips were pushed up and down. _I am a lady of Stellary Rock..._

When the first rays of golden morning had kissed the land, her Sept was the first to come, her dresses swirling around in black and white. The woman's smile faded the moment her sandals struck the stone - chamber reeked of blood, wine and sweat. Her crimson eyes widened when her gaze came to rest on the child's figure.

Hyuuga Hinata sat on the throne of blood and beheaded bodies put to rest on the silver sheets of her bed, with each head carefully crowned with a knife of Stellary Sers in its back and placed on top of the bedpost, with blood still dripping. Hinata's legs were spread and bloodied, there was blood on her hands, her tummy and breasts. Her lips shone as crimson as the gleam of horror in the Sept's eyes. The Demon lady wailed.

"Child"Sept Kurenai gasped. "What have you done?"

Lady shook her head. "The Demon...It was the demon, sept!"she accussed. "I...I couldn't...they were...He _raped_ me!"

Kurenai could swear that, on that day, she had seen the hag who brought her lady into this world, seated in the chair back in the old days, pale, dead and wrinkled, with malice shining from her watery eye bolts.

_'She'll awaken in blood on the final day of her maidenhood. Fiercer than ever, she'll cast a curse upon the gods - the old and the new ones. Queen she shall be - and in the triumph she shall die by the hand of a man she'll grow to love and never in return will she be loved."_ Her toothless mouth spread in a wide smile. _'You will die for her, mortal. Perish like a doll caught in fire - and your fire shall be the sweetest. Cast down you shall be by the hand of the man for whose love you betrayed your god. Pity falls upon you. Pity will fall..."_

She breathed a sharp breath to straighten her posture. She raised her chin like the noble ladies surrounding her and drank in the sight of her lady being coated by the young man's cloak. Her lady was safe, she assured herself when the young Hyuuga Neji swore his vow.

_No Demon will ever be awaken - on my honor of a sept and might of gods, old and the new. I will see her safely,_ Kurenai thought as the bells tolled and cheers erupted. Lady Hinata smiled for the first time in seven months.

* * *

_**~X~**_

He stared at Ser Sarutobi's face whilst he stood before his table, hands folded at his abdomen. Shikamaru observed his act that mirrored those of sellswords his father despised amongst all, and the boy lord wondered what sorcery had made his father take this man in his service. Naturally, Ser Sarutobi was a man raised at the court, son of a noble lord somewhere on the north. Shikamaru remembered his Master-at-arms once told him Ser Sarutobi had refused his name and thus had been banished from the house of the brave. He had never asked why it happened nor what the cause was, perhaps it was due to the fire that burned bright in the man's eyes, and it scared him, it scared the young man to death and beyond.

Ser cleared his throat, blade of grass held by his teeth. "Maester had sent me to deliver you a letter sent from the Springhold. A raven arrived early this day, when the sun rose. It is your lady, Maester says, ill words she writes." The man stroked his beard and prince could not help but think he looked like a bear.

Shikamaru took the folded piece of parchment and instantly recognised the stamp of the house Yamanaka. "Words about wedding, perhaps?"he uttered, fidgeting in his seat. He was a deer, he told his father the day lord Shikaku Nara summoned him before the Small Council of the North with the news of an alliance made whilst he was still a boy in a wooden crib.

_'You don't own me'_, he raised his voice in front of the Grand Maestar, lords and Ser. '_I will chose the one I love, and once I marry-'_

_'How do you think your mother and I were brought together? The lady on the east and the lord in the north? My son, I deem you a fool if you believe your life to be entirely your own. We have made our peace with the South eons ago - and I would not be a Warden in the North if I allowed my own flesh to act according to its desires. Peace has to be maintained. We have all suffered, drink from our glass.'_

"My prince,"Sarutobi murmured. Young prince raised his head. "I believe the letter won't read itself."

With a silent apology said, Prince of the Black Keep broke the lady's stamp and opened the letter.

As Maestar had said, ill words were written.

"What it says?" Ser Asuma asked the moment he allowed the parchment to slip between his fingers. Deer boy's eyes met the man's black.

"Lord Inoichi Yamanaka of the Springhold is dead."he declared. "Which leaves lady Yamanaka as the last legitimate successor of the Springhold and thus the armies in the South. She requests a delay of our marriage until she names a hand to rule in her absence."

"Impossible."he retorted, removing the grass from his lips. "She's a lady. Her father's vassals would not allow it. A double-edged sword, I say. If she leaves for the Shadowed islands and names a hand, riots will rise, they will let no woman rule, especially not in absence. However, if she stays, her existence will be threatened by her bastard brother, the Drunken King they call him. He's after the throne, I say. And perhaps some vassals would rather have a bastard as their lord than a woman, killing an illegitimate child is not considered crime by the laws of gods."

"And you believe she'll...?"

"Come" He spat on the floor. "She values her father's laws more than anything in her life. But I do not believe her to be stupid either, it takes chivalry even for a woman to leave a castle knowing it would sink. Your lady is a Yamanka, she must know."

Shikamaru smiled. "You believe in those stories, Ser Sarutobi?"

"Asuma,"he corrected him. "I have witnessed those, boy. Every house has one."

"So, Hyuugas have made a pact with Demons who fell to Earth thousand years ago? They are indeed immortal nephilims?" He chuckled, but the man's face remained unchanged. For a moment, he almost saw a glimpse of his father in his Ser.

"I was a sellsword, kid," He placed a firm hand on the map which spread before the prince. His fingers grasped the Stellary Rock. "I was a sellsword, bought by a merchant to be his escort to the Stellary Rock, all the way from Riverhills, across the Shadowed Sea and lands in the east. I laughed like an infant the moment I set foot to that ground, sea was never my thing. My job was done and I was paid hundred crowns, enough to buy a room in a nearest inn and spend the night with a whore. I wondered of ways to leave the east and head back to the north, but I was weak. And weakness' name was a woman."

"A Hyuuga lady?" He looked at the map, right where the name of Springhold was written, there, at the far south. He wondered how she looked like. He wondered if she resembled the woman he loved. He wondered...and the treat to the mind was suspicion and suspicion alone. Love had poisoned him long ago.

"No," He shook his head just barely and his fingers caressed the parchment as if it was a woman. "She was a woman in their house. The most beautiful I had ever seen. Her fair face is still engraved in my memory. I loved her and thus I loved her master and the lords she belonged to, and soon enough I belonged to them too. A mere sellsword joined the house of Demons. A true demons. I...I've seen their lord do what no man had done. And their lady, Hiashi's successor, I recall not her name, she...The horrors she had done, I will never forget them."

"The lady? Hyuuga Hinata of the Stellary Rock, the Demon lady who married her own brother?" His tone hid no disgust.

"No. Not brother. A cousin. They are divided into two houses, the main house and the branch house. 'It's been that way since the beginning of the world', their lord would boast, but I believed no word. Brother betrayed a brother for wealth, blood to them means nothing. Branch house members are only pigs raised for slaughter, shields to defend those of the pure line, the true demons! The Demon Queen as you call her...she slaughtered the smith's son a day before her wedding. But the High Septon claimed the sins were theirs, for the lady claimed she was raped. My woman...She refused my help. I offered my sword to dispose of the demon lady, and she cried like a mother did over her child. She loved the girl more than she could ever love me." His nails tore the paper, leaving holes on each of the Stellary Rock's towers. Shikamaru ran his eyes over it and Ser Sarutobi seemed to give it no meaning. The man took grip of his sword's head.

"I tell myself...she never loved me."

"She did, she only loved her master's mo -"

Ser pulled him by the collar of his flaxen tunic, Shikamaru was raised to his feet. Bottles of tint stained his robes and black absorbed the colors of the map as they did the lady's letter. Prince dared not to take another breath before the man, Ser's nostrils violently spread.

"She allowed the Demon the mate with the Demon only seven months after I left!"he hollered, shaking the prince. Young man believed a word would cost him his tongue. "They married...They married weeks ago and your father's men swear on their pride that Maestar claimed she was carrying. _Another demon_!"He articulated each word so carefully before tossing the boy lord back into his chair as if he was a shield not to be used. Shikamaru stared incredulous.

"The lady must be killed."Sarutobi uttered.

"She will,"Prince responded. "I assure you, Ser Asuma, she will."

"The king...Uzumaki dynasty...His grace has declared a war to the east."

He tried to hide his bewilderment. "Why?"

"It requires a demon to fight a demon. Hyuugas have already done enough crimes against the crown."

"Do you not want your lady to be safe?"

Ser Sarutobi gave a light shake of his head. "She no longer is my lady. I belong to Nara Shikamaru, first of his name, crowned prince of Shadowed Islands, young lord of Black Keep and successor of the Warden in the north."he recited it so formal, with no signs of emotion in his coarse voice. The boy had almost pitied him. "There is no place for love in the heart where duty leaves its scars."

Under those lights he could almost see her, the sandy mess of her hair and eyes of cougar that pierced through his flesh.

_Yes_, Nara Shikamaru thought, _even she had once said that_.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note: **_

**_Guest - Thank you for reviewing my story :) I am delighted to hear you like this and I hope you'll continue to follow it. I promise you, it is just getting interesting :D_**

**_~X~_**

_**Lullaby of the broken**_

_**by DistantSong**_

_**Chapter 3: Vows to break**_

_**~X~**_

His eyes could not leave the sweet sight of her bare body resting by the fireplace. Hungry shadows of flames licked her soft breasts, splintering her into puzzle pieces that inosculated, birthing a scene that sent bolts of pleasure through him, all directed to one, aroused member.

He dug nails into the orange's rind - taste of sweetness tinted with sourness wetted his dry lips. He watched the liquor slide down his hand, faster, then slower, like a man driven by hunger, in his finest hour of pleasure. He licked his fingers, shivering at the sourness. Young lord cursed under his breath.

He heard her chuckle from her position, laid out by the fireplace, sound carried away by the click-clocking of daggers meeting to sharpen. Man narrowed his head to observe her. She raised a brown eyebrow as she gazed at the coal of his eyes. He could almost drown in hers.

"What is bothering you, _m'lord_?"she teased him. "Do fruits not match your taste?"

"Shall a wolf be bothered by this?" He pointed at the bowl filled with rarest of fruits, some neither she had ever laid her eyes on.

Brown haired woman frowned at his tone. "You are bothered, Kiba." It is an accusation, he understands, but gives no meaning to.

He left the half-eaten fruit on the night table and stood up to join her. She bit back a laugh upon noticing his hardened manhood. He pulled her roughly to him before she even got a chance to protest and locked their lips in a haste kiss.

"Stop it"she wrestled him between the moans. "Stop it!"

He sucked in her earlap in response. "I am to marry in couple days. I intend to use every opportunity I have to stay by your side. _My lady._"

There was a sudden change in her blissful expression, as if shadow painted it. She grabbed his hand in tight grip that matched any man's and pushed him off herself, pointing a dagger to his neck. "I am no lady, Inuzuka."she spat. He breathed in her scent, a friendly reminder of the summer haze. His fingers gently enveloped her fist, widening her eyes. He allowed the blade to rest against his cheek.

"Are you not hurt by the words I said, wild woman?" He removed a strand of earth colored hair from the swordswoman's warm face. The dark in her eyes had him bound.

"Do you not wish for a life with me?"he questioned her with unhidden imploration in his rough voice. "Do you honestly think some woman like her can replace _you_? I am asking you, TenTen, are you willing to allow it to happen?"

She slapped his fingers away from her face to illustrate her anger. "She is your betrothed. It has been that way for centuries between your houses. I am not the one to stand in your way."

He breathed. "I had expected none the less from you, woman."

She smiled a weak smile as she shook her head. "That lady must be a mad woman...wanting to marry you...Is insane."

"I believe she shares my feelings for the situation."he replied. His long fingers played with her bouncing curls. "She has a man she loves. A fair knight, so I have heard."

TenTen snorted in the most unladylike way she could. "There is nothing fair in being a knight."

"Sakura's five-year-old self would have had you thrown into dungeons for uttering such words in her noble presence." Tenten did not miss a ghost of smile that had graced his lips at the single thought. "She had loved the old tales of fair knights who saved the beautiful princesses from the filthy hands of ugly dwarfs or claws of mighty dragons, and spent the rest of their lives sharing their bed." The gleam burned bright inside those eyes at the memory of a little girl in white crowned with wreath of silver and gold. She spun and spun around in the sunlight singing a song about the First King and the Holy War. Old nanas always added a name of a beautiful lady that the king craved for, one that waited for him at home, like every good woman should.

_A lady with hair of crimson rain and eyes of silver moon_.

Tenten sat onto his chest, drawing circles on the skin of his wrist.

"She sounds like all those maidens I have seen cry themselves to sleep when their lover dies or leaves. Helpless little lambs that know only of the songs, gold, their husband's warmth and honor of their house. Ones whose sole purpose is to bear children and be pretty whilst their lords conquer the world."

He shrugged. "I cannot tell. I haven't seen her since...I was seven."

Woman narrowed her forehead. "Haruno Sakura...I have heard of that name. Once."she muttered for herself. Kiba wound his fingers into her hair, gazing at the ceiling.

"She had healed many men in their darkest days."he clarified. "You must have heard of it. The Silver Healer, they call her. I have heard knights speak of her beauty and wit, gentleness of her hands and eye-pleasing sight of her face. My father had told me thousands of men have proposed her hand believing she was an angel sent from Gods to tempt them, and each has sinned. She had healed this body you lay on when we were mere infants, not a moon old."

"The Silver Healer?"She glanced at his face, bewildered. "A woman who had healed the Beast lady's knight? A noble lord. Lady of Springhold had never forgiven her his death." Her hand reached for the dagger she left had put to rest.

He had laced their fingers before she grabbed the metal and nodded to her words. "Yamanaka Ino, first of her name, heiress of Springhold and daughter of Warden in the North, said to be the most beautiful lady in the Four Kingdoms. Perhaps even prettier than lady Hyuuga."

She laughed, movements of her breasts a pleasing sight to his tired eyes. "Yamankas and Hyuugas are sick fellows, m'lord. I wonder why none of them were proclaimed mad."

"They fear them. It is said that Hyuuga's ancestor made a pact with the angels of darkness to claim those silver eyes. Then, solely, by power, they were divided. It's an old tale about the Kinslayer, if I recall correctly. Two brothers have met to prove their worth to their father, the price was the throne and the punishment was banishment. The younger son lost to his brother and thus the boy was banished and the Second Branch was created. A branch of servants. Puppets. They are nothing but puppets to the Main House. Brother can slay brother for power or because of pure hate, and he will not be questioned why."

"Mind your tongue,"Tenten sighed. "Your noble father is still the Demon's vassal."

"Once I marry the lady of the West and claim the House of Haruno I will become the Warden in the West. No man will order me."

Knight placed a kiss on his throat, to silence the voices inside her soul. "They are just as sick as we are, if not sicker."

He simpered. "Says dame bastard in the West. I believe you were fine with your father's ways."

"If I was, would I be here warming your bed?"

Kiba observed her face. "Your lord father had saved you. I've heard what Westlings-"

"It was my brother."she hissed. "It was my brother. And now he's gone."

She sat herself onto his abdomen, looking down at him. "You said you wanted to use all the time you have with me. So"she leaned in to capture his lips for a fraction of second. "Shall we use it then?"

He jolted when she grabbed him. "No wonder they call you the Panther."

She smirked. "You'll hardly forget me with the Silver woman by your side. I bet she'll subdue to you the moment you lead her into your chambers, and speak of her duty or the men she let die."

He cupped the breast that nicely fitted his hand. She moaned.

"Perhaps."he uttered, pulling her by the neck. TenTen laughed against his lips.

Later, as she laid in his arms the prince slept soundlessly to a lullaby of birds and soft tunes she hummed. TenTen laid awake with their hands laced. She damned every custom ever made and every promise she had ever made. _Power is a wicked thing_, she thought at the memory of a cold autumn when the power took it's toll.

_'Power is the way we breathe', _he had told her that day when they stood at the shore watching the Sun as it melted in the sea. Colors shone scarlet like blood on the knight's mail. '_You have to breathe it in if you wish to live. And nothing else matters, not love, nor friendship or bonds of trust. When you come of age, you'll realize.'_

TenTen had disagreed with his words every day of his life.

On the cold autumn's day she took a first breath of power - and no matter how much she washed those hands, sins never faded.

* * *

_**~X~**_

They had fallen in torrents of crimson snow, reduced to mash of flesh and bones. Thousands of noble knights basked in golden and silver, sellswords dressed in leather and torn cloth; thousands of men had perished into nothingness by the hand of the purple shadow that continued to creep, massive and ghastly.

He had seen Sers run; those men who had laughed in the dawn and drank at dusk, retelling thousands of wars and deeds of heroes from olden days. He had seen men from the South burn in fire of black, darker than any night he had slept through in the West. Sers of North left their pride and broke dozens of oaths they had sworn before the Gods and men. Every creäture that still moved bent its knees and chanted names of saviors.

However, he had seen them fall, before he had fallen himself, lulled by the melody of their howls.

He woke up on the third day and ended his fest. Southsmen gathered to examine his wounds, suspicion written inside their eyes. He was the boy who had reached his sixteenth nameday, heir of the Hous Uchiha, Fire of the West and the only survivor in the bloodbath. He was inexperienced, Maester's knew and healers had seen.

They had abandoned him. "His wounds are poisonous and blood a painted water. He won't last the night, Maester." Male healer uttered ill words before their leave. He hadn't seen them, only shadows, and they hadn't heard his prayers.

He dreamt the fields of Heaven his lord father once spoke him of; and dreamt in an angel.

She was born from light splintering on the cloth of his tent, her hair the color of dusk he had seen on the shores of brilliant green sea. The lady _was _the dusk itself. He had never seen a woman like her among the healer's orders, not as a part of Alchemists nor Leeches, not even among the Witches. Her skin was fair as that of noblewomen, ladies born on the shores of Purple Lake back at the South, and her slim figure spoke of years she had suffered deprived of liquor and food. Though her hands were velvet caressing his burnt skin, he could feel her tremble aside the mask of unfaltering rock. _She was as fragile as angels_, he thought.

Emerald of her orbs met his black.

"Rest."her voice commanded, but he didn't see her lips move.

"Wa..."he choked on every letter he tried to articulate. Every breath pained him like thrusts of million swords. "Wa...ter..."

She held him by the hand. "Sasuke..."

"Wa...ter..."

Strands of her hair fell to his face. He desperately searched for her, but there was nothing to see.

"You are human no longer." Lady had muttered before tasting his lips.


End file.
